Matthew Slater's Christian faith helps him remember who deserves the credit for his success.

After losing to the Denver Broncos Sunday, the New England Patriots will not be headed to Super Bowl XLVIII. In an article this weekend, The Boston Globe's Shalise Manza Young highlighted a least one of the team's players who won't let defeat keep him down for long.

“I think for me, all in all, what I have to understand is the NFL life — and some people might be offended by this — it’s temporary,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said. “And that kind of helps me realize: It might be fun to do X-Y-Z, but it’s only going to bring temporary satisfaction in my life, and in light of eternity, it’s really not that important.”

Slater, however, is eager to embrace the opportunities he does have on the field, and his Christian faith helps him remember who deserves the credit for those.

“I feel like if I don’t compete as hard as I can and play as fast and physical as I can, I’m doing a disservice to the Lord, who’s given me the opportunity and the talents to play this game," Slater said in The Boston Globe article.